RIGHTS: Caste System Taboo in Run-Up to Anti-Racism Conference

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, May 31 2001 (IPS) - The discrimination against 250 million people in South Asia and other regions of the world who belong to supposedly inferior castes has been ignored in drawing up the agenda for the United Nations World Conference against Racism, charged human rights activists Thursday.

Praveen Rashtrapal, a member of India’s parliament, appealed to the UN to take up the matter of fighting the social ill of discrimination against the “Dalits” (the ‘untouchables’, the lowest caste of the Hindu religion) in the same way that the international forum is fighting the physical ills of malaria, tuberculosis, polio and HIV/AIDS worldwide.

Rashtrapal accused his country’s government of pressuring delegations from other countries serving on the anti-racism conference’s organising committee to block consideration of the caste-system question.

This Friday the organising committee wraps up its two-week session, which largely centred on drafting the final declaration for the anti-racism conference to be held in the coastal city of Durban, South Africa, Aug 31-Sep 7.

The caste system, which harms 200 million Dalits in India, a nation of one billion people, “is a crime against humanity,” stated Rashtrapal. “We want international intervention” in order to put an end to this inhumane social system, he said.

But discrimination against Dalits is not limited to India. The people of this caste also suffer in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, where they represent the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of the population.

The phenomenon also affects the communities of Burakumin in Japan, the Osu in Nigeria and Rodiya in Sri Lanka, pointed out Vincent Mancharan, head of the India-based National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights.

“The caste factor prevails in Senegal, Mauritania, Madagascar, Mali, Guinea and other parts of the world, including Malaysia, United Kingdom, United States – wherever the Indian people have gone,” said Mancharan here Thursday.

Caste-based discrimination consists of an outright ban on proximity or physical contact between a Dalit and a person of a higher caste, and especially prohibits a Dalit from handling food or beverages to be consumed by people of a different caste.

In Nepal, the violation of these rules results in severe punishment for the “untouchables” and requires those belonging to other castes to undergo purification rituals, explained D.B. Bishwakarma, of the Nepalese non-governmental Dalit Federation.

In several Asian countries, the untouchables live in separate settlements and are not allowed to enter the villages where members of higher castes reside.

They are not permitted to obtain water from the same sources or to visit the same temples, and Dalit schoolchildren are often forced to be seated in the rear of the classroom, said the activist.

Last February, a group from a higher caste in Kathmandu blocked the access to a Hindu temple to prevent a protest group of Dalits from entering, Bishwakarma said.

Dalit women are raped, and the Dalit population in general is often attacked or even killed by members of the higher castes, who in turn are protected by the state, charged non-governmental rights organisations (NGOs) from the Asian region gathered in Geneva.

Smita Narula, an expert for Human Rights Watch in South Asia, said there are 100,000 cases reported each year in India of rape, murder, arson and other violent acts perpetrated against the untouchables.

Caste systems often coexist with otherwise democratic structures. However, there are some encouraging signs of change. In India and Nigeria, the government have enacted progressive- minded legislation to combat atrocities against lower-caste communities, according to the NGOs.

“However, discriminatory treatment remains endemic, and discriminatory societal norms continue to be reinforced by government and private structures and practices,” says a report by the activists.

“Every day in India a Dalit woman is raped,” said Rashtrapal, himself an “untouchable”. Every day, an attack is reported and there are many cases in which entire villages are forced to move, he added.

“It is the duty of United Nations to take up this particular issue… and to see that caste-based discrimination is eradicated from the soil of India,” stated the lawmaker.

If the World Conference against Racism does not include the matter of caste-related discrimination, the world will be ignoring the rights of more than 250 million people, warned the activists during a press conference here Thursday.